Business Systems (UK) Ltd: Investment in New Call Recording Systems Not Necessary to Meet FSA Mobile Taping Regulation

March 30, 2010 05:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Financial institutions don’t need to invest in new call recording systems to comply with any future FSA mobile taping regulations according to independent City call recording specialists, Business Systems (UK) Ltd.

“Mobile call recording vendors should not only be able to supply robust, secure, easily deployed solutions, they should build on a firms existing investment and provide clients with flexibility, choice and financially dynamic payment models to suit current market conditions.”

Following the FSA’s recent decision to review the exemption on recording staff mobile phones, a number of technology providers have come forward with secure, tamper-proof mobile recording technology designed to meet future compliance requirements. It is widely expected that the exemption will be removed later this year, a view reinforced by the FSA’s promise to get tougher on market abuse and their recent high profile arrests and prosecutions for ‘insider trading’. The recording of business mobile phones in the City will complete the recording of all electronic communication for FSA regulated activities, but it does not have to mean a complete overhaul of a company’s existing call recording investment.

Technology is available which enables mobile calls to be routed through a firms existing call recording infrastructure. For compliance purposes a mobile handset can be configured so that all calls, both inbound and outbound, are recorded. It has also been designed to be tamper-proof, ensuring that the user cannot decide to not record a call, and that the recording cannot be accidentally lost or deliberately destroyed after the event.

There are two options for storing call recordings, either on a hosted server, or on the firm’s site. With a hosted solution, calls can be routed through and stored on the hosted server and the call recordings accessed by logging in to a secure portal. The advantage of the hosted option is the ‘pay-as-you-go’ model, with no need to purchase, install, maintain and upgrade additional hardware.

For an onsite solution the call recordings can be routed through a server and stored on the firm’s existing call recording system. This will be the preferred option where an organisation’s data policy requires all call recordings to be stored within the organisation.

The typical cost to firms will come largely from the purchase of the server, additional recording channels if required, and a monthly license fee per handset for the technology. Stephen Thurston, one of the founding Directors from Business Systems (UK) Ltd concludes “Mobile call recording vendors should not only be able to supply robust, secure, easily deployed solutions, they should build on a firms existing investment and provide clients with flexibility, choice and financially dynamic payment models to suit current market conditions.”
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Whatever the investment decision they make, I think these will give business mobile phones user at least a minimal impact.

Motorola to Replace Google with Bing in China

HONG KONG: Motorola Inc, the handset maker that’s rebuilding its mobile-phone business around Google Inc’s Android software, has dropped the US Internet company’s search engine from one of its Android phones in China.

Motorola no longer includes Google’s search engine in its Zhishang device shipped to China Telecom Corp, David Wolf, acting head of public relations for Asia at the Schaumburg, Illinois-based handset maker, said in an e-mail.

Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese service may lead some companies to switch to rivals, such as Baidu Inc, operator of China’s biggest Internet search engine. Motorola is adding Baidu as an option on Android phones sold in the country, and this month said Microsoft Corp’s Bing search and maps service will be preloaded onto its China phones.

“If you were partnering with Google in China, your business plans have just fallen apart,” said Bertram Lai, head of research at CIMB-GK Securities in Hong Kong. “You need to scramble and find new partners.”

‘Honeymoon’
None of Motorola’s four Android phones sold in China currently carries Google’s search engine as it’s not available for license in China, Motorola spokeswoman Kathy Van Buskirk said.

“You had a honeymoon between Motorola and Google until Google developed its own Nexus phone,” said Pierre Ferragu, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co LLC in London. “The more Motorola can show that Google has to be cooperative to the handset makers, the better.” He has an “outperform” rating on Motorola.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd yesterday said it doesn’t use Google search on its phones, after billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Tom Online Inc said it stopped using the US firm’s link on its portal. Unicom, China’s second-biggest wireless carrier, only works with companies that abide by Chinese law, President Lu Yimin told reporters in Hong Kong. The Beijing-based operator is not working with Google currently, he said.

Chinese partners for Google’s search operations need to review their business ties because the U.S. company’s service license in China will need to be renewed, said Fang Meiqin, research director at BDA China Ltd, a Beijing-based telecommunications industry consultant.
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I think Google must cooperate well with this huge companies regarding especially with mobile phones.

Modern Etiquette: Ringing in Good Mobile Phone Manners

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Modern technology may have provided us with mobile phones and the convenience of instant communication, but it's also created a lot more ways to irritate or offend.

Mobile phones are an essential element in our professional and personal lives, but they too come with a code of conduct.

Good mobile phone etiquette takes little effort or thought - it's simply a matter of being aware of your surroundings and of other people.

*Manage your Settings

If you're embarrassed by your ring or alert tone in certain situations (on the train, in the office, for example) it's almost certainly the wrong choice. Monitor the volume - ringtones should never be intrusive or cause heads to turn. Switch off your phone, or turn it on to vibrate, when you are going into meetings, theatres, cinemas and so on.

*Be Discreet

Your mobile phone is not a megaphone, so don't shout. Be aware of your surroundings and try not to use your phone in situations where your conversation may disturb others. Be aware that your voice will distract a peaceful train carriage of newspaper-reading commuters or seem intrusive on a crowded bus. Intimate conversations are never appropriate in front of others. Equally, don't use foul language, have full-blooded rows, or talk about money, sex or bodily functions in front of witnesses. Try and respect your own - and other people's - privacy. There are certain places where it is unacceptable to use your phone: for example, art galleries, churches, libraries, hospitals. Respect the rules.

*Two's Company...

People in the flesh deserve more attention than a gadget, so wherever possible turn off your phone in social situations. Don't put your phone on the dining table, or glance at it longingly mid-conversation. If you are awaiting an important call when meeting someone socially, explain at the outset that you will have to take the call, and apologize in advance. At a party or social gathering, excuse yourself and withdraw somewhere private to make or receive calls. And don't send or read text messages when you are out in company, unless it's urgent. Also, don't carry on mobile phone calls while transacting other business - in banks, shops, on buses and so on. It is insulting not to give people who are serving you your full attention.

*Priorities and Purpose

Text messages are ideal for conveying a short, instant message. Don't use them to communicate important information or anything that needs a lengthy explanation. If you have to cancel an appointment, always make a phone call rather than send a text; apologies will be better received this way. There's also no need to use confusing, abbreviated text language. Use as much conventional grammar, spelling and punctuation as possible to make yourself clearly understood. The usual salutations and sign offs can be ignored, assuming the recipient knows who you are.

Handwritten thank you letters should never be replaced by a text and never ever finish a relationship by text. Messages of condolence sent by text are the ultimate faux-pas - insensitive, lazy and insulting.

Jo Bryant is the London-based etiquette advisor for Debrett's, the UK's modern authority on all matters of manners and behavior. The opinions expressed are her own. Debrett's website is www.debretts.com

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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Mobile phone etiquette is important to be a better businessman, we must have good manners in communicating to people.

Smartphone Overseas Web Warning

By Brian Milligan
BBC Business Reporter 


The consumers' association Which? is warning that people going abroad with smartphones can still face huge bills if they connect to the internet.

By 1 July, new rules will come into force in the European Union which will cap bills for downloading data.

But, until then, people travelling in Europe could face unlimited bills.

And anyone visiting non-EU countries, like Turkey, the US or the Caribbean, will continue to have no limits on their internet usage.

Bill shock
If you use your phone in the UK to connect to the internet, for example to check emails or go on Facebook, you don't usually need to worry about the bill - most home tariffs include unlimited downloads.

But, if you take a smartphone, like an iPhone, on your travels, it can have expensive consequences.

One German man was reported to have been charged £41,000 after downloading a television programme onto his phone.
   

Julia Feuell, from north London, also got a shock after a visit to New Zealand. Her 17 year-old son racked up a bill of £590.

"It was a telephone bill that I'd never seen in my life before. It was a great shock to Alex, who's an apprentice mechanic."

However, the phone company concerned eventually agreed to halve the bill.

According to research by Which?, people using smartphones abroad can pay up to £8 for every megabyte downloaded. That's the equivalent of one email with a photo attachment.

But anyone who downloads videos or films can expect to pay considerably more.

According to Which?, a ten minute video clip and five music tracks could cost as much as £200.

New EU rules
If you travel within the 27 countries of the European Union, or Switzerland, you will soon be protected by new rules to limit bills for data downloading.

From the 1 July this year there will be a default limit of 50 euros (£45) a month.

Until then, it's up to consumers to get in touch with their phone company to get that, or a different limit, applied to their account.

Users will receive a warning when they are approaching 80% of their limit, and will then be cut off once the limit is reached. But travellers to the rest of the world will receive no such protection.

Which? would like the EU data download limits extended to the rest of the world.

But this would have to be done by the phone companies themselves, as there is no regulatory body that has global reach.

"Mobile phone companies should voluntarily take these very sensible steps, and apply them on a worldwide basis," says Matt Bath of Which?.

But the GSM Association, which represents global mobile phone companies, disagrees.

"Europe is a very unique market. We would not advocate copycat regulation for other territories," a spokesperson told the BBC.

It also says it is trying to drive down bills by other means, and points out that the price of mobile services has already fallen by a third in the last five years.

Agree limits

Some owners of smartphones are unaware that their phones roam the internet whenever they are switched on.

With so-called "push email" programmes, that means you will be charged whenever someone sends you an email.

Equally, if you use an application to search for a nearby restaurant, or go onto Google maps for local directions, you are downloading data.

Which? advises users to go into their settings and simply turn off the data roaming facility.

Users should, in any case, be warned about this whenever they arrive in a foreign country and their mobile operator is substituted by another.

Otherwise, if you are travelling to Europe before the 1 July, you should get in touch with your phone company to agree a limit on data downloads.

Those who want an allowance which is larger than 50 euros should also contact their phone company, to get the limit raised.
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It will be up to you if you're still trying business mobile phones due to some changes.

Emblaze Mobile First ELSE - The New Kid on the Smartphone Block

Unbeknownst to many in the mobile phone community, there's a mobile phone company called Emblaze Mobile based in Israel that is poised to do battle with entrenched smartphone makers starting this year. It's a nine-year old company that operates under the group umbrella of Emblaze Ltd., a small Anglo-Israeli IT company in the business of providing software and communication solutions since 1994.

A Little History
Emblaze Mobile has been specializing on designing cutting-edge technologies for mobile telephony since 1998 even before getting incorporated. It has been marketing low cost feature phones that commands a fairly good size of the Israeli and Middle Eastern markets, especially its Touch & which was also marketed in Europe in 2006.

Emblaze Mobile is now known as Else Ltd shifting to the new name after announcing its Emblaze Mobile First Else smartphones back in November 2009. Emblaze Mobile embarked on the "Monolith" project that had a Japanese company as a strategic partner, Access, which is one of the world's leading providers of mobile software solutions and is best known for its net browser NetFront as well the Access Linux OS used by many companies worldwide.

It is also the maker of Garnet OS derived from the Palm OS. The joint project produced a unique Access Linux-based platform called Else Intuition.

High End Features
Finally out from its classified Monolith product, the new smartphone's all-black slab 116 x 57 x 13mm body comes out as an unabashedly inspired design form the monolith in the movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. What sets its Else Intuition OS apart is its gesture-controlled UI that is similar to what the iPhone has but goes a step farther with more menus controllable by thumb gestures and a unique dial-up graphic menu calls "sPlay."

In addition, it has complete multitasking capability and a media store available for Apps developers on the new platform as Emblaze will be releasing is API together with the handset. It's good to know that for a company starting out to venture into smartphones, it recognizes this early that a successful smartphone needs a good online apps store

Demoed at a launch event in Japan last December and launched in London this week, the First Else looks like a Nokia N900 but without the QWERTY keypad. It's designed to be operated with just one hand courtesy of its capacitive touchscreen and a persistent display of controls on the right side of the screen.

What immediately strikes you is its 3.5" Wide-VGA (854 x 480) display and a high end 5 megapixel autofocus camera with image stabilization. It's a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone on 2G with UMTS/3.5G and HSDPA data connectivity, WiFi, GPS, accelerometer and proximity sensors, Bluetooth 2,0 and USB 2.0.

Internal memory comes at 16 GB though a 32 GB version is being readied. Neither version seems capable of microSD expandability. It is powered by the same Texas Instrument OMAP 3430 processor powering the iPhone 3Gs, Motorola Droid and Nokia N900. Incidentally, these three smartphones would be its main competitors.

Availability
The Emblaze Mobile First Else Linux smartphone is expected to reach European markets by the second quarter of 2010 and will be making its product debut in the UK. Emblaze Mobile is already negotiating with the major mobile network providers in Europe and the US. Pricing information has yet to reach the public but this is now affordable handset. With its feature set and a remarkably unique OS, expect this to compete in the high end upscale markets.

You can visit Best Mobile Contracts to see all the latest mobile deals available. You can see what deals are available for First ELSE and other phones.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Drew